School me on mini-mini excavators

deere 17d, brandt even has one for sale in there used. 750 hours, thumb, q/c, cleanup and dig bucket. Being in calgary, you would have every part imaginable overnight from brandt, how long would that take for a tak? although i do belive hammer sells them in alberta.

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That 17d that Brandt has is just too new; I need more hours on it so it gets affordable. Also... every time I walk out of Brandt, I feel my wallet is a lot lighter than it should be.

Hammer sells the Taks in Calgary, so I don't think parts would be that bad an issue.

I didn't take a camera out with me. I'll take some pic's when I pick it up...which will be between now and April... I'm leaving it in their yard until I need it in the spring, or until they need the yard space; whatever comes first.

bumping this thread up. the more I read about mini exs, the more I'm leaning towards a true mini mini. I really need it to cut down on man labor. Most of what I do is walks an patios. about 50% in backyards with man gates. If I can be the guy who can get in there without wrecking the fence and grass, plus not have 5 guys with shovels(just 2 with wheelbarrows) I think I can really make some profitable work get done. the occasional under pin job, cellar entrance, window well, hell anything that requires digging but doesnt necessitate a 7000lb skid steer or ex. We're not talking about excavating basements on an empty lot, obviously this is not the machine for that job. plus once you have this little guy you make so much work for it. augering fence footings, digging b and b trees, the list goes on. I want to be the guy they call to get the jobs done that only I can do efficiently.

the problem is all my insight comes from you guys and the net. No one around me has these size machines for rent and I dont see them on many jobs. maybe I'm ahead of the curve, maybe I'm missing something.

guys who have ran or owned these, any more current experiences of updates to the list? I think I want the biggest machine that drops down to 3' but expands for stability like the tak tb016 and kobelco gatekeeper. I hear the argument against ZTS but I havent ran both so I cant compare.

The little GateKeepers are nice rigs. IMHO there are no negatives to a ZTS especially in this size machine. Just because no one has doesnt mean its not a good idea. If your doing the kind of work that can makes use of this type of machine, I would buy one. Put a grading bucket on it and layoff three laborers. Put a thumb on it and use it to pull shrubs and brush that takes 5 guys with chain saws. These machines have a lot of uses, and will save labor and time.

If your looking for a Gate Keeper type The New Holland, Case and Kobelco are all the same machine. The Deere 17D is also a good machine. I would also look for a similar IHI brand. I thought I saw an IHI on Iron Planet coming up for auction. You may have to drive but being on the East Coast probably not far. Shipping one of these small machines would not be a big deal either.